Chapters: Between 4 and 11

--

Hibari rubbed his wrist for about the tenth time, trying to make it stop tingling. He glared out the window of the apartment he'd rented years ago (it was nice to be able to get away from those angel fools sometimes). The sun was slowly setting, painting the sky a deep red, with highlights of pink, purple, and blue. A few people were walking by, trying to make it home before night set it completely. It wasn't always safe in this part of the city. Luckily, Hibari was both good at fighting and could become invisible to the regular human eye.

Too bad it didn't protect him from demons. One demon in particular.

Hibari wouldn't admit it, even to himself, but he knew what Mukuro had meant. He knew why he was so happy, why Mukuro let him go so easily. And he still couldn't believe he'd known the demon. His human life was so fuzzy now...

**

The day started out as usual: he got up, got dressed, went to school, beat up some trouble makers, threatened to 'bite' a few people 'to death'. It was all perfectly normal. Until he was heading home.

It was rounding eight when he finally left the school premises. The sky was already dark; only a slim line of orange remained, and it was fading fast. Hibari walked leisurely since he knew he wouldn't be harmed.

The night air was cool and a breeze ruffled the leaves on a nearby tree. His dark hair blew from his eyes, giving him a clear sight of what lay up ahead.

A fog was rolling in (strange for this time of night), and there was a group of figures obscured by the white haze. There were grunts and the sound of someone being hit repeatedly. Hibari recognized those sounds: they were the sounds of a fight. He pulled out his preferred weapons –tonfas– and headed with contained glee to the mist.

As he stepped in, the air grew chillingly cold, much colder than it had been out of the water. Hibari could also see the teens better now. There were six gathered in a circle around two others. The two in the middle were severely hurt, with bleeding lips and black eyes. The shorter, blonde teen growled every few seconds, warning the slowly encroaching circle to stay back. The lankier, dark-haired (Hibari couldn't tell the exact color, with it being dark and foggy) boy was standing calmly, as if he didn't have the chance of being killed hanging over his head.

Suddenly, there was a flash of movement from the circle: one of the boys had fallen backward.

There was the rustling of clothes behind Hibari and someone bumped his shoulder. His immediate reaction was to swing his right tonfa at the person, hitting whoever it was right in the face. He got a view of the teen staggering backward, holding his eye.

"Well that hurt," he said sarcastically as he straightened up. Hibari could now see his face fully. Dark hair with a blue tint to it framing a pale face. His hair also stood up in the back, but what really caught the eye was his right eye. It was red, and there was a strange shadow in it. The boy blinked and stared at Hibari critically. "Oh, hello. I apologize for bumping into you." He held out his hand, but Hibari just glared. "Ah, okay. I see you're not a very social person. If you'll excuse me, I have other problems to attend to."

He turned back to the circle, half of which was trying desperately to pry vines off the boy who had fallen. The blonde in the middle was laughing while his friend adjusted his glasses.

"Ken, Chikusa," the newest addition addressed them. "Come along." The two gave a last glance at the struggling boys and followed him. They passed Hibari –who didn't know why he was even still there– and the one he'd hit whispered, "By the way, my name is Rokudo Mukuro."

Hibari frowned as the three walked off and the mist dissipated.

**

It wasn't the best story, nor was it that interesting or memorable. Hibari would rather it didn't exist at all, but he couldn't exactly go into the past and change it.

There was a knock on the door that broke the angel out of his thoughts. He was instantly on guard, tonfas out and ready to attack.

"Oh Kyoya~" called the voice of the one demon he really didn't want to see at the moment. He'd wonder how he even found the apartment later. But at the moment he was ready to bite someone to death.

--

Mukuro strolled down the sidewalk of the main street, stepping through people and taking pleasure in their shivers. This was where the idea of ghosts came from. Demons or angels passing through people; it had nothing to do with ghosts at all. Not that they didn't exist, of course, they just didn't bring about the cold a demon or angel could induce.

But that was totally irrelevant to Mukuro's intentions; he was on a mission.

He was heading purposefully toward a neon sign that spelled out 'Limbo' in curly pink letters. He knew most of the population consisted of slacking demons, and a few... discrete angels that were good at information gathering. Mukuro also happened to know the owner.

A simple, but well-informed human female.

Mukuro rounded the corner of the alley next to the building and knocked thrice on the side door. It almost blended in with the brick the bar was made out of, but anyone with a well-trained eye could pick it out. A rectangle of light appeared in the upper middle of the door and two silvery eyes peered back at him.

Mukuro raised his right hand and drew a swirly D in the air, with crowning it with a halo and finishing with a demon's tail. He heard a grunt and locks being undone before he was let in.

The lighting in the back was much better than the club itself and the bright lights were a sharp contrast to the dark outside. Mukuro shut his eyes to wait for them to adjust. He heard a whisper, some scuffling, and the sound of someone walking upstairs quickly. When he could once again see, he was met with the sight of a silver-haired teenager. He had a cigarette dangling from his lips and looked extremely grumpy.

"What do you want? My sister's out right now."

Mukuro smirked and snatched the stick from the teen's mouth. "You should know these are horrible for you." The cigarette caught fire entirely and disintegrated. "Now, what might your name be? I haven't seen you around here on any of my other visits."

The human seemed to be debating on whether to punch Mukuro for taking his cigarette or just letting it go and answering the demon. He decided on the latter. "Gokudera Hayato," he mumbled.

"Well, Gokudera Hayato-kun, I believe you will have to entertain me until the owner returns." He gave a pleasant smile –or as pleasant a smile as a demon can give– and motioned for Gokudera to lead the way up the stairs. Gokudera scowled, but started up them anyway.

They came upon a landing that had four doors leading off it. Three were firmly closed while the last was partially open. Gokudera peered inside and said, "Wait here" before slipping in and slamming the door shut. Mukuro stayed still for only a second before leaning closer to the wood. He could hear some mumbling and upped his hearing; he was a demon after all.

"Leave." That was Gokudera's voice.

"I can't just leave. Lal told me to keep an eye on you."

"I don't care. He's a demon and you're an angel. Should you really be exposing yourself?" It was said in a very rude manner, but Mukuro heard a hint of something else.

There was a pause. "Are you worried about me?" There was a smile in the teen's voice.

"No! Now just get out! Come back tomorrow or something."

The sound of glass breaking and wind moving through soft feathers. Some cursing. Footsteps headed toward the door.

Mukuro moved back and put on a smile. Gokudera opened the door, staring at him suspiciously. He left the door open and plopped down on one of the couches centered in the room. Mukuro followed and sat down much more gracefully opposite him.

"Having an angel in this place isn't a good idea, is it?"

Gokudera dropped the cigarette he had been about to light. He focused his eyes on Mukuro's smirking face, but didn't let himself slip again. He picked up the cancer stick and put it back in the pack. He stowed the pack in a jacket pocket before answering.

"No, it wouldn't be a very good idea."

--

Hibari was slammed against the wall, growling as Mukuro came too far into his personal space. The demon's smirk was beyond evil.

Mukuro squeezed the angel's neck tighter (not that it would kill him, but it did hurt).

"Oya, what's this Kyoya? You certainly don't have as much fight in you as I thought. Maybe being an angel has it's downside..."

Hibari forced his hand up to grip Mukuro's wrist. "You're.. not that herbivore."

A frown crossed the demon's face, but was soon replaced by a self-satisfied grin. "Aw, how'd you figure it out? I thought I was pretty convincin'." The demon reached up and sunk his nails into the skin of his face, pulling. The skin tore and he dropped it. Now revealed was the face of an unfamiliar demon, sporting red eyes and –once he pulled of the wig– black hair. "What gave me away?"

Hibari was loathe to admit it, but, "He wouldn't have attacked me like that."

"Ah, but why not? Are you hidin' something?" He stepped back, letting go of Hibari's throat, but the angel continued to hang against the wall. He was also resolutely silent. "Fine, I can see you're not gonna tell me. Are you mad that I beat you?" Hibari glared. "Don't worry. The only reason I won is 'cause I'm one of the stronger demons; stronger than most angels."

The demon sat down on a chair and leaned his elbows on his knees, watching Hibari just hang there.

"And now we wait, hmm?"

--

The mood in the room was tense. Gokudera knew Mukuro had heard his conversation even if the demon didn't admit it. And he just kept smiling. It reminded him vaguely of a certain white-hared demon...

The door opened and Gokudera jumped, not expecting the noise. A pink-haired, goggles-wearing woman walked in, stopping in her tracks as she saw Mukuro. She turned to Gokudera.

"Hayato, why don't you go get us drinks?"

Gokudera sighed with relief and left the room. The woman took his now unoccupied spot. Mukuro's expression became serious.

"Bianchi."

"Mukuro. What are you doing back here?"

"Do you dislike my presence that much?" he asked with a sarcastic smirk.

Bianchi shook her head. "I just don't understand why you came back so soon. I already gave you the information."

Mukuro's face morphed into surprise, then darkened. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'? You came here earlier asking for some angel's whereabouts. Unless..."

"Obviously. And who did 'I' ask about?"

Bianchi removed her goggles and fixed her hair, thinking. "Hibari Kyoya."

--

Gokudera was downstairs not getting drinks when the kitchen filled up with fog. It was so think he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. It was a good thing he knew his way around well.

He managed to get out the door and find the stairs easily when he heard footsteps coming down them. He figured they didn't belong to his sister and deduced that Mukuro was coming back downstairs. Gokudera moved out the way and listened to the steps exit through the hidden door. The mist also went with them, drifting out the door after the demon.

Well, that answered that question.

--

Hibari was sick of hanging on a wall. He was sick of having a demon staring at him. He was sick of waiting for... whatever they were waiting for. He was also sick of feeling weak.

The demon just sat their, occasionally running a hand over his hair and looking at the door. He hadn't said anything since he told Hibari they were going to wait. It was slightly unnerving.

But only slightly.

Finally, the sound of soft footsteps were heard on the stairs. The demon sat up straight, smile gracing his lips. He'd been waiting for this.

A soft mist floated through cracks in the door, flooding the floor of the room. Slowly, it rose up the walls and encompassed the entirety of the room. Hibari and the demon could only faintly see the outlines of each other.

The door banged open, bouncing off the wall, and more fog was let it, completely obscuring all vision. With the rest of the fog came an intense hatred.

"I see you've finally decided to join the party," came the demon's voice. There was the swish of cloth and more footsteps: he'd gotten up and walked closer to the door which slammed shut. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come. It was a gamble to come after this par-tic-u-lar angel, but I guess I chose right." There was an excited laugh, and more, slightly off-rhythm steps.

Hibari felt his invisible restraints loosening (and it wasn't from the demon), so he tried to pull his right hand free from the wall. It came away with a snap, but his other wrist wasn't budging. He pulled at it again and again, and, eventually, it also came undone. Hibari fell from the wall, landing on his feet, and picked up his tonfas –which luckily had fallen close by.

He heard the demon laughing and looked up. He could see a red glow from the direction of the door.

Suddenly, a new voice joined the laughter. "You shouldn't touch other's possessions."

The demon's laughter changed to choked gasps, and a subdued scream issued from his mouth.

"You're not a shapeshifter... What are you?"

"Dis-disguise expert."

The whole time this conversation was going on, Hibari was skillfully opening the only window in his apartment, making sure to be exceptionally quiet. He wouldn't have run normally, but this was information he should give to Lal. Plus, while he wasn't always the best, he was still an angel and had certain obligations stitched into his character. So while they gave away precious information, he was getting ready to leave.

"Disguise? Aren't you from the Pit? What's happened in Hell?"

"Like I'd... tell... you." The demon's voice faded and there came the sound of wind whistling through trees. The mist was leaving through the window Hibari had opened, giving way to only one demon standing in his apartment. The real Mukuro.

He was staring at Hibari perched on the windowsill, dark purple wings unfolding from his back. His right eye was glowing red (like Hibari had seen when he was a human), but this time he could make out what was inside the eye: the kanji for six.

Hibari gave one last glance at Mukuro before pushing himself off the sill and flying off. He looked back once to see the demon leaning out the window. But he wasn't coming after him. Hibari didn't give it a second thought, he turned back to the clouds and raced off for Heaven.

--

Mukuro didn't really want to let the angel go, but he knew they'd see each other again eventually. Everything was starting to unfold; this was only the beginning.

Plus, they were connected. He would definitely be seeing Hibari again, whether the angel liked it or not.

And next time, Mukuro would make sure he liked it.

--

Author's Comments:

Hope you liked this short. Next one will be with Bel and Fran. ;D

MusicofFire